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Photo contributed by Pacific Power
Pacific Power has received a license to operate the Wallowa Falls hydroelectric project near Wallowa Lake for another 40
years.
Pacific Power relicensed to
run county hydro project
Actions required
to protect
threatened bull
trout
By George Plaven
East Oregonian
Federal energy regulators
will allow Pacific Power to
continue operating the Wal-
lowa Falls hydro project for
the next 40 years, while also
requiring additional protec-
tions for bull trout in the Wal-
lowa River.
The facility, located south
of Joseph near Wallowa Lake,
consists of a dam on the riv-
er’s east fork that diverts
water to a small powerhouse
with a single 1.1-megawatt
generator capable or produc-
ing enough electricity for
about 500 homes.
Pacific Power has run the
system since 1942 when it ac-
quired the original operating
license from Inland Power
and Light. On Tuesday, the
company announced it re-
ceived a new license from the
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission after the previ-
ous license expired last year.
As part of the agreement,
project manager Russ How-
ison with PacifiCorp said they
will invest $3 million over
the next three years to im-
prove stream flow and habitat
for bull trout, which are now
listed as threatened in Oregon
under the Endangered Spe-
cies Act.
“Environmental standards
have changed so much,”
Howison said. “With an old
operating license, you have
to bring the project up to new
environmental standards.”
Most of the work will in-
volve leaving more water in
stream for fish, and block-
ing passage into areas where
bull trout may be vulnerable,
Howison said.
In previous years, How-
ison said the minimum in-
stream releases from the dam
into the river bypass were
just half a cubic foot per sec-
ond. Those figures have since
bumped up significantly to 4
cubic feet per second during
the winter, and five cubic feet
per second during the sum-
mer, with one cubic foot of
water equal to roughly 7.5
gallons.
“That’s putting consider-
ably more water in the por-
tion of the stream below the
dam,” he said.
Howison said they are
working with the U.S. Geo-
logical Survey install a re-
al-time stream gage to mon-
itor required minimum flows
on the East Fork Wallowa
River. The dam’s intake struc-
ture will be modified to ac-
count for additional releases.
Crews will also build a
fish passage barrier leading
into the tailrace below the
powerhouse, which had at-
tracted bull trout especially
during the summer. The prob-
lem, Howison said, is when
the dam faces an unplanned
outage, and the tailrace is
suddenly drained of water.
“That’s the real risk to bull
trout,” he said.
Since the project is right
next to a number of popu-
lar hiking and snowshoe-
ing trails, Pacific Power has
agreed to work with the For-
est Service on putting in new
signs and landscaping to con-
ceal the powerhouse for vis-
itors. Once the work begins,
Howison said there may be
some temporary access re-
strictions, though the com-
pany will notify neighbors if
and when that happens.
———
Contact George Plaven at
gplaven@eastoregonian.com
or 541-966-0825.
Wallowa County will be on PBS
BIZ BUZZ
Kathleen Ellyn
In the current Wallowa County
Chamber of Commerce newsletter, Vic-
ki Searles reports that Kelly Cox – pro-
ducer and chef of “Original Fare,” on
PBS – has filmed an episode in Wallowa
County.
These visits by journalists and film-
makers boost interest in the county. They
help those who are planning tourism
expansion such as agritourism, culinary
tourism or bicycle tourism to reach a
larger audience.
Cox featured products grown, dis-
tilled, brewed, and baked from Eastern
Oregon and highlighted the tour by trav-
eling via motorcycle and cooking out-
doors.
By late March, everyone can watch a
teaser of the WC episode aired on PBS
and learn when the episode will run.
The show will be available through PBS
streaming web, apple TV and rook apps.
The episode will also be available na-
tionally, picked up by multiple markets.
Alice Trindle of Eastern Oregon Visi-
tors Association (EOVA) worked hard to
make this happen. Greg and Gail John-
son of Trout Haven hosted the guests.
Trindle has also organized an incen-
tive package for viewers watching the
episode. There will be a “Taste of Ore-
gon’s Old West Out East” contest. The
prize will be a giveaway tour of East-
ern Oregon, and it will be advertised by
“Original Fare” in Portland.
Original Fare plays into new tourism
ideas that folks in the county are already
thinking and planning.
Learn more at: http://www.theorigi-
nalfare.com/
Watch Original Fare episodes at
http://www.pbs.org/show/originalfare/.
If you are one of the people interest-
ed in bicycle tourism, you will want to
check out Travel Oregon’s 2017 Bike
Tourism conference to be held March
21 at the Portland Zoo. You can learn
more about this event and review a draft
agenda at http://industry.traveloregon.
com/industry-resources/product-devel-
opment/bicycle-tourism-development/
oregon-bicycle-tourism-summit/.
You may register online.
Agency kills wolf in Wallowa County
Incident deemed
unintentional
By George Plaven
EO Media Group
The U.S. Department of
Agriculture
inadvertently
killed a gray wolf Feb. 26
from the Shamrock Pack in
Wallowa County.
The wolf died after com-
ing across what’s known as
an M-44, a spring-activated
device that releases cyanide
powder to poison target an-
imals. In this case, USDA
Wildlife Services was using
the device to kill coyotes on
private land to reduce con-
flicts with livestock.
M-44s are triggered when
canids such as wolves or coy-
otes tug on a bait that releases
a plunger that shoots sodium
cyanide powder directly into
their mouths. The animals
usually die within one to five
minutes.
The Oregon Department
of Fish & Wildlife had recent-
ly collared the wolf, OR-48,
on Feb. 10. At the time, the
male weighed more than 100
pounds and was estimated
to be just under 2 years old.
It was not one of the pack’s
breeding wolves.
“The death of this wolf
shows the risk involved when
wolves are in areas where
Wildlife Services conducts
these types of operations,”
said Doug Cottam, ODFW
wildlife division administra-
tor. “This is a situation we
take seriously, and we’ll be
working with Wildlife Ser-
vices with the goal of prevent-
ing it from happening again.”
ODFW spokesman Rick
Hargrave said M-44s were
prohibited in areas where
wolves are known to be ac-
tive while the predators were
still listed on the state En-
dangered Species List. The
Oregon Fish and Wildlife
Commission delisted wolves
in 2016, though Hargrave
said the department had spo-
ken with Wildlife Services to
keep the devices out of wolf
territory.
“I just know we had dis-
cussions with them that we
didn’t want those devices in a
known wolf area,” Hargrave
said. “In our minds, I think
there was a general agree-
ment.
“We’re certainly going to
go back, reiterate those con-
cerns and find out where there
was a communication break-
down,” Hargrave added.
Dave Williams, state di-
rector for USDA Wildlife
Services in Oregon, said they
have begun an internal review
of the incident. He said the
agency “works hard to pre-
vent the unintentional take of
animals when addressing hu-
man-wildlife conflicts.”
At last count, Oregon is
home to at least 110 known
wolves, though that total is
likely much higher. Harsh
winter weather has delayed
ODFW’s latest population re-
port, which will be delivered
to the Fish and Wildlife Com-
mission at its meeting April
21 in Klamath Falls.
———
Contact George Plaven at
gplaven@eastoregonian.com
or 541-966-0825.
March 8, 2017
Wallowa County Chieftain